Five Britons, Kenyan charged with fraudulent sale of Sh600 million land in Diani

Five British nationals and a Kenyan were yesterday charged with fraudulently selling three prime pieces of land worth Sh600 million in Diani Kwale County.

Annelise Clark, John Clark, Christine Clark, Hellen Hartley, Richard Hartley and Peter Mutwiwa were charged with conspiracy to defraud James Archer, Joanna Trent and Robert Archer of the said land.

It is alleged that the six accused subdivided the three properties into six plots and sold them to M/S Snapdragon Limited, Kamakawaida Properties Limited and Bariness Holdings Limited.

The three companies are also cited as among those charged alongside the five accused persons.

The five denied the charges before Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku and were released on a bond of Sh1 million with an alternative cash bail of Sh300,000.

It is alleged that on diverse dates between the years 2017 and 2021, at the law firm of Muthama Advocates Mombasa, the accused jointly, with intent to defraud the beneficiaries of trust properties, fraudulently sold off the said three parcels of land.

They were also charged with procuring the subdivision of the said three parcels into six plots and falsely acquiring the titles of the said properties while pretending to be the lawful beneficiaries.

Anneslise Clark was separately charged with perjury for swearing a false affidavit at the Mombasa Court of Appeal on November 8, 2021, by claiming that the subdivided plots were transferred to M/S Snapdragon Limited and Kamakawaida Properties Limited for a variable consideration on December 3, 2019.

The prosecution applied to bar the accused advocate, Muthama, from representing the accused over a conflict of interest, having been adversely mentioned in the said fraudulent transaction.

State counsel Antony Ndiema said that Muthama is likely to be a state witness in the case and termed his office a crime scene.

“Muthama was adversely mentioned and might be a potential witness in the matter. His continued representation of the accused person will be a conflict of interest. We have instruction to object to Muthama representing the accused,” said Ndiema.

However, Muthama opposed the application and said that neither he nor his firm is listed as a witness.

He said he did not know why the prosecution was uncomfortable over his appearance in court while he had been instructed by the accused persons to present them and their interests.

He said it would be highly prejudicial if the rights of the clients guaranteed under the constitution of Kenya to have and be represented by a counsel of their choice are infringed and the court will be abrogating that right without any grounds to support such a decision.